Supporting apparatus



Dec. 17, 1935. G. DECKER 2,024,760

SUPPORTING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS Dec. 17, 1935. G DECKER 2,024,760

SUPPORTING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 193:5 s Shets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

*Bf' MWM Dec. 17, 1935. G. DECKER I 2,024,760

SUPPORTING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 1933 5 SheetsSheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y5 Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .9 Claims.

This invention relates tosupporting apparatus and is particularly adapted for use with small devices such as electrical heaters used in the process of permanent waving.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved supporting device which will counter-balance the weight of the articles supported.

Another object is to provide an improved supporting device which may be very simply operated.

Another object is to provide an improved supporting device which will be simple in construction.

Another object is to provide an improved supporting device which will be compact, neat, and attractive in appearance. I

Another object is to provide an improved supporting device which will be light in weight.

' Another object is to provide an improved supporting device in which electrical connections may be quickly and easily made or broken.

Another object is'to provide an improved supporting device to which electric apparatus may be readily applied and detached and in which all electric conductors will be effectively protected.

Other obj ects will hereinafter appear.

The invention will be better understod from the description of one practical embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanying draw- 30 ings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of parts of a permanent waving machine embodying the invention, parts being broken away;

Figure 2 is a central vertical sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of parts shown in Figures 1 and 2 taken on the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a partially diagrammatic View showing the circuits of the apparatus of the first three figures.

In the permanent waving of hair it is common to divide the hair of the subject into a plurality of strands, wind each strand separately on a curler rod, supply this with moisture, generally a solution of some alkali, and then heat it to vaporize the moisture and. cause this vapor to steam the hair.

For this purpose a plurality of heaters are generally provided, there being at present two recognized styles of heaters, one of which consists of a cylindrical tubular heater, and the other of a heater composed of one or more sections which define a generally cylindrically shaped space. Sometimes asingle machine will be equipped with heaters of both types, and arranged so that either may be used alone or both used simultaneously.

In order to position the heaters properly about the head of the subject, the former are generally 5 suspended from a chandelier-like device or head which is either secured to the ceiling or is supported upon some type of pedestal or stand. Due to the different sizes of the subjects, and the various curvatures of their heads, the posi- 10 tion of the heaters should be adjusted ever-y time they are used. Originally the heaters were simply suspended by electrical conductors long enough to reach the lowest position which would ever be-desired, and when the heaters were placed 15 on the wound strands of hair the weight was supported by the head of the subject.

Subsequently some strands were provided with counter-weights to counterbalance a part or all of the weight of the heaters and so to some Q tent relieve the subject from this load. As typical of such arrangement, attention is called to the apparatus shown in the patent to August H. Opperman, No. 1,768,924 issued July 1, 1-930, which shows a number of weights sliding on rods and connected by cords to the heaters.

In this patent it will be seen that the aggregate mass of weights is considerably more than that of the heaters, and that, together wit-h the attendant supporting and guiding structures, a bulky and heavy apparatus was produced.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated a type of counterpoise which does not depend upon weights to offset the weight of the heaters, but achieves this result by a combination of spring and snubbing action.

The permanent wave machine shown consists of abase (not illustrated) which stands upon the floor and may be of any known or desired shape. From this, a substantially verticalpost l extends 4 upwardly and has secured to its upper end a bracket comprising a socket 2 fitting the upper end of the post and secured thereto as by set screws 3, which socket merges into a hollow neck 4, this, in turn, merging into a horizontal ring 5. This bracket is conveniently formed of metal and constitutes a framework for supporting the counterpoise mechanism which is secured to the ring 5.

To the bottom of this ring is secured a depending casing '6, conveniently made of sheet metal and secured to the ring by machine or drive screws or the like. This casing is of -annular shape and terminates at its lower -or inner edge in an upwardly extending flange 7. Supported within the member 6 is a circular ring 8, preferably of insulating material such as fibre, phenol-condensate, porcelain or glass, and supported upon the top of this ring is a second depending casing member 9, the central lower portion of which is cylindrical and the upper portion of which flares to terminate in a substantially horizontal flange resting upon the top of ring 8. The two cover members and ring are secured together by bolts [0.

The ring 8 is provided with a series of groups of holes in which are secured metal bushings l I which serve as contacts to receive the prongs l2 of a plurality of connector plugs l3 connected by wires M to a heater IS, the heaters illustrated being such as shown in my copending application, Ser. No. 347,779, filed March 18, 1929. The bushings are conveniently made of short pieces of metal tubing, the ends of which project into the space between the ring 8 and cover 6, and are horizontally split for the reception of conductors, to be hereinafter described, by which the bushings are connected to a source of electricity.

Frictionally held within the cylindrical portion of cover member 9 is a ring 16 to which are secured a number of upwardly extending strips of spring metal I1, there being one strip provided for each heater which it is desired to support. The upper ends of the strips are provided with wire fittings l8, shown as secured to the strips by rivets l9, and as having two looped ends serving as fair-leads. Similar wire fittings 29 provided with eyes or fair-leads are secured to the cover member 6 adjacent its outer periphery byhollow rivets 2| which also serve as fair-leads.

Cords 22 extend, as illustrated between corresponding fittings on the cover and on the spring strips, being shown as having one end secured to fittings 20 and the other passing through rivets 2| to be secured to the heaters Hi.

It will be noted that when a heater is pulled down, the corresponding spring strip will be flexed accordingly, as shown at the right hand in Figure 2, an amount corresponding to the motion of the heater and that the heater may be lowered four times the distance of the motion of the end of the spring with the arrangement shown. The stress of the spring need not be suflicient to support the weight of the heater, or it may be, if

desired, more than suflicient to counterbalance this weight, but the difierences between the weight and stress are compensated for by the friction of the cord passing through the various eyelets producing snubbing action in the manner in which a common type of shock absorber permits a relatively weak spring to resist the momentum of a relatively heavy car body, so that the heaters may be simply raised or lowered to any desired height and will remain in any position to which they have been brought.

' A cover 23 is secured to the upper edge of ring 5 in any desired manner, as in the manner in which cover 6 is secured, and protects the interior of the casing from dirt and the like.

The electrical connections are best shown in Figure 4, there being three conductors united in a cable 24 which enters a junction box 25 secured to bracket 2. Two of these conductors, 26 and 21, are connected to a source of current such as a generator 28, while the third conductor 29 is connected to a ground, these connections being simply executed by a well-known type of three prong plug 30 and outlet (not illustrated).

Within the junction box 25 are two switches 3| and 32, in series with which are positioned pilot lights 33 and 34 respectively, the switches being in parallel and both connected to the conductor 26. Conductor 27 is connected to a bus bar or wire 35 which passes through the ends oi the lower rowof bushings H. Conductor 29 is connected to a bus bar or wire 35 which passes through the intermediate bushing H. From switch 3! a conductor 3! extends to a bus bar or wire 38 which is connected to some of the upper bushings ll, being shown in the drawing as connected to two of each three of the bushings of this series, and is insulated where it passes the other bushings of this series by a covering of spaghetti or similar tubular insulating material 39. From switch 32 a conductor 40 extends to a similar bus bar or wire 4| which is connected to the remaining bushings I I of the upper row.

If it is desired to use a greater number of heaters than can be conveniently arranged in a single circle, or for any other reason it is desirable to suspend some of them from the center of the device, some of the cords 22a, after extending from fairleads 20, may be passed inwardly and upwardly over a smooth ring 20a, and downwardly and out from fairleads 2 la, in the depending portion of part 6, thesecords and their associated springs and fairleads functioning in precisely the same manner as those above described.

From the illustration of these connections it will be apparent that each heater is always connected to the ground line 29 and to line 21 and that by operation of switch 3! two out of every three heaters will be connected to conductor 26 While by the operation of switch 32 the remaining heaters will be connected to line 26, so that the operator may selectively use one-third, twothirds or all of the heaters with which the machine is supplied. Obviously, it will be desirable to indicate upon the ring 8 or upon the cover adjacent this ring which series of bushings are in the circuit of each of the switches.

While I have described the illustrated embodiment of my invention in some particularity, obviously many others will readily occur to those skilled in this art, and I do not, therefore, limit myself to the precise details shown and described but claim as my invention all embodiments, variations and modifications thereof coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A weight compensating device of the class described comprising a leaf spring fixed at one end, a fair-lead at the other end of each spring, a guide fixed at one side of said spring and.toward which the same may be flexed, a flexible cord passing through the said fair-leads and having one end fixed and the other passing through a guide and downwardly at the other side of said spring and secured to a weight to be supported.

2. A supporting device comprising a standard,

a ring-shaped bracket secured thereto, a depending annular plate secured to the underside of said bracket, an insulating ring carried by the inner edge of said plate extending upwardly therefrom, a flaring cup-shaped member supported on the upper edge of said ring and depending within the interior thereof, a plurality of upwardly extending circularly arranged leaf springs having their lower ends fixed within the bottom of said cup-shaped member, the sides of the cup-shaped member flaring in substantially the curve assumed by the springs when in stressed condition, a plurality of fair-leads secured to the upper end of each spring, a corresponding plurality of fair-leads secured to the annular plate adjacent its outer edge, a flexible cord passing back and forth through corresponding sets of fair-leads and having one end secured to one of them and the other passing throughthe fair-lead in the annular plate, and a cover secured to the upper side of. said ring-shaped bracket and enclosing the spring, fair-leads and cords.

3. A supporting device comprising a standard, a ring-shaped bracket secured thereto, a depending annular plate secured to the underside of said bracket, an insulating ring carried by the inner edge of said plate extending upwardly therefrom, a flaring cup-shaped member supported on the upper edge of said ring and depending within the interior thereof, a plurality of upwardly extending circularly arranged leaf springs having their lower ends fixed within the bottom of said cup-shaped member, the sides of the cup-shaped member flaring in substantially the curve assumed by the springs when in stressed condition, a plurality of fair-leads secured to the upper end of each spring, a corresponding plurality of fair-leads secured to the annular plate adjacent its outer edge, a flexible cord passing back and forth through corresponding sets of fair-leads having one end secured to one of them and the other passing through the fair-lead in the annular plate, a cover secured to the upper side of said ring-shaped bracket and enclosing the spring, fair-leads and cords, electrical conductors and a plurality of bus bars within the space between said insulating ring and said depending annular plate, said bus bars being carried on the exterior of the ring and connected to said conductors and a plurality of conducting bushings connected to said bus bars and extending radially through the ring whereby to be accessible from the open space between said insulating ring and said depending cup-shaped member for reception of a plug.

4. A supporting device comprising a standard, a ring-shaped bracket secured thereto, a depending annular plate secured to the underside of said bracket, an insulating ring carried by the inner edge of said plate extending upwardly therefrom, a flaring cup-shaped member supported on the upper edge of said ring and depending within and having its lower portions spaced from the interior thereof, a plurality of upwardly extending leaf-springs having their lower ends fixed within the bottom of said cup-shaped member, a plurality of fair-leads secured to the upper end of each spring, a corresponding plurality of fairleads secured to the annular plate adjacent its outer edge, a flexible cord passing back and forth through corresponding sets of fair-leads and having one end secured to one of them and the other passing through the fair-lead in the annular plate, a cover secured to the upper side of said ring-shaped bracket and enclosing the springs, fair-leads and cords, electrical conductors and a plurality of bus bars within the space between said insulating ring and said depending annular plate, said bus bars being carried on the exterior of the ring and connected to said conductors and a plurality of conducting bushings connected to said bus bars and extending radially through the ring whereby to be accessible from the open space between said insulating ring and said depending cup-shaped member for reception of a plug.

5, A supporting device comprising a standard, a ring-shaped bracket secured thereto, a depending annular plate secured to the underside of said bracket, an insulating ring carried by the inner edge of said plate extending upwardly therefrom, a flaring cup-shaped member supported on the upper edge of said ring and depending within and having its lower portions spaced from the interior thereof, a plurality of upward- 5 1y extending circularly arranged leaf-springs having their lower ends fixed within the bottom of said cup-shaped member, the sides of the cupshaped member flaring in substantially the curve assumed by the springs when in stressed condi- 10 tion, a plurality of fair-leads secured to the upper end of each spring, a corresponding plurality of fair-leads secured to the annular plate adjacent its outer edge, a flexible cord passing back and forth through corresponding sets of fairleads and having one end secured to one of them and the other passing through the fair-lead in the annular plate, electrical conductors and a plurality of bus bars within the space between said insulating ring and said depending annular 20 plate, said bus bars being carried on the exterior of the ring and connected to said conductors and a plurality of conducting bushings connected to said bus bars and extending radially through the ring whereby to be accessible from the open 25 space between said insulating ring and said depending cup-shaped member for reception of a plug.

6. An appliance supporting device of the class described comprising a support having an annu- 30 lar portion, a dished annular housing element having its outer edge secured to said annular portion and extending inwardly and downwardly, an annular insulating element secured to the inner edge of said annular housing element and 35 extending upwardly therefrom, a cup-shaped element flaring upwardly and outwardly and having its upper edge secured to the upper edge of said insulating element, a series of resilient strips secured in said cup-shaped element and.projecting upwardly thereabove, flexible elements connected to the free ends of said strips and extending downwardly for supporting appliances.

'7. In a device of the class described in combination, a support having attached thereto 5 spaced upper and lower walls defining a housing, said lower Wall including an annular substantially vertically extending zone composed of insulating material, the Wall portions adjacent the same defining inwardly of said zone a downwardly opening concavity and a flaring cupshaped element and outwardly of said zone an upwardly opening concavity, a series of resilient counter-balancing elements supported by said cup-shaped element and extending thereabove, 55 conducting sockets associated with said zone of insulating material and accessible from said downwardly opening concavity and conductors forming a part of a current supply to said sockets housed within said upwardly opening concavity.

8. In a device of the class described, a housing, supporting means therefor, a circularly arranged series of leaf springs secured at one end to said casing, fair leads secured to the free ends of said springs, corresponding fair leads secured to said housing, filaments passing back and forth through said fair leads and extending downwardly through said housing for supporting appliances therebeneath, a portion of said filaments passing through said housing outside of said series of springs and a portion thereof passing through said housing within said series of springs.

9. In a device of the class described, a housing, supporting means therefor, a circularly arranged series of leaf springs secured at one end to said 15 casing, fair leads secured to the free ends of said springs, corresponding fair leads secured to said housing, filaments passing back and forth through said fair leads and extending downward- 5 1y through said housing for supporting appliances therebeneath, a portion of said filaments passing through said housing outside of said series of springs and a. portion thereof passing through said housing within said series of springs, there being guide means within said housing above said series of springs and a filament which passes through said housing within said series of springs 5 being guided thereby.

GEORGE DECKER. 

